Nine Green Campuses

University of California, Santa Barbara

Earns top marks for its 62% recycling rate, its goal to be zero waste by 2020, and its use of greywater for landscaping. The campus has six Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings, including Bren Hall, which was the first building to earn a “double platinum” rating

University of Oregon

Earns high marks for its use of renewable energy on campus, purchase of renewable energy credits, and its excellent water conservation and composting efforts. Students learn about organic gardening, composting, and more at the school’s Urban Farm.

University of California, Davis

The university has a good recycling rate and comprehensive composting program. Students conduct waste audits to help put more into recycling and send less to the landfill. It uses some solar energy to heat water and power buildings.

Colorado State University

Is one of the most stringent schools in the country when it comes to green building design. All new buildings must receive LEED Gold certification. The university purchases renewable energy and uses a significant amount of solar power on campus.

Stanford University

Earns top marks for offering food from local and organic sources. An extremely high amount of waste is diverted from landfill thanks to strong recycling and composting programs. Stanford uses solar energy, has a fleet of hundreds of electric vehicles, and is testing a solar car.

Harvard University

Is aggressively trying to reduce its carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2016 and is credited for having good green building design. It also gets good grades for its composting program and selection of organic and local foods.

Pennsylvania State University

The campus is partially powered by wind and biomass. Penn State encourages students to participate in conservation efforts through its Take Charge program. Light switch covers remind students to turn off the lights. The university has top notch composting and recycling programs.

University of California, San Diego

Is recognized for its incredible recycling rate, comprehensive water conservation program, and fleet of vehicles that runs on alternative fuels. About 15% of UCSD’s energy comes from renewable sources.

Duke University

Green building design is a top priority. Duke’s Smart Home is the first LEED certified dormitory in the U.S. The school purchases renewable energy credits to offset a large amount of its energy use. Duke gets about a third of its food from local or organic sources.

TreeHugger: Water

During the month of June, TreeHugger is taking an extra avid interest in water issues. We're following everything about fresh water, from the ecology to the economy, from pollution to politics. The issues are countless, but the bottom line is we need to conserve. So we want to kick off the month by showing you the myriad ways you can conserve water on a daily basis. Check out all the ways from reasonable to radical that you can make every drop count.

Water Basics
Start with a primer. Planet Green's How to Go Green: Water guide will give you many of the facts and figures that will inspire you to take action, plus give you a ton of tips to get started.

Conserve Water Outside
The average American uses 100 gallons of water a day, and about 30 gallons of that goes to outdoor activities like watering the lawn. When it comes to saving water outdoors, there are quite a few easy ways to conserve. Cutting down water use in the garden is easy, using simple techniques like drip irrigation.

Conserve Water Inside
As for indoor use, the ways to conserve are too many to count. But we can certainly get you started with a few dozen ideas. Start by asking yourself these 7 important questions. Then, take a look at your water use. Bath time might be a necessity, but there are ways to cut down on water use and make what you do use go much farther.

There are also basics like learning how to check for leaks, and fixing the faucets and pipes that are drip, drip, dripping. Also, daily chores like laundry and dish washing are ripe with ways to conserve. If you're feeling the bug for fixing up your home, check out installing a greywater system, which is easier than you might think. Even the somewhat more interesting ideas like peeing in the garden rather than the toilet can help.

And there is looking at how much water we drink and eat. Even when we travel, we can conserve more water

Learning About Water Scarcity
When we look at all the ways we use water, we could save as much as 60 gallons a day with just a few simple steps. It pays to get educated about water issues, from catching the latest documentaries to testing our knowledge to getting familiar with what water scarcity looks like.

For a steady stream of water conservation ideas, check out the Planet Green water conservation page, and keep an eye on TreeHugger's water crisis page for news, updates, and inspiration.

More resources for water issues
How to Go Green: Water
Water Conservation
Peak Water: Exploring the Water Crisis

Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!

Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
Vote for Your 2009 Ocean Hero (and More!) for World Ocean's Day
Did You Know Saving Water = Saving Electricity?
Blanchett to Corporations: Time to Change Climate Change
Water Crisis Leading to Wife Abuse in Some Areas

water conservation project

Any and all residents who are interested in owning a rain barrel should contact the EcoHawks Club at the high school as part of a water conservation project. The barrels are 55-gallon, clean, food-grade, and adaptable for collecting rain water for use on our lawns, washing our cars, pets, hands after working in the yard, and watering our flowers and gardens. We are still on a water restriction and coming into the dry season. They will be especially useful after our NEXT hurricane as water to bathe in, clean up, and flush our toilets. Water is critical after a hurricane and we should save the drinking water for drinking. The residents of MS can get their barrels at a deep discount to the online prices of $70-150 each, probably less than $40 each, depending on how many people sign up for a barrel, so we could get a volume discount. The guy who gives these talks all over, from Broward to the Keys, will come and show us how to make our rain barrels correctly and help us for FREE. Put your contact information on a list with the EcoHawks.

water conservation is the key

South Fla residents are among THE most wasteful in the state, using 179 gallons of water daily. Miami-Dade residents use 159.9 gallons per day. In comparison, Atlanta, another drought-stricken metropolis, uses 120 gallons per capita.
Sarasota County used water conservation techniques to lower their water consumption form 140 gallons per day to 90 gallons per day, per capita. The government there mandated water conservation using water-saving landscaping and conservation-pricing of its water resources. If every one of the 18 million residents of Fla could realize such a savings there would be nearly a billion gallons of water available every day that wasn't there before.
Other water conservation practices available today include retrofitting old toilets, which can save 29 gallons per day, low-flow shower heads, recycled water, and rain barrels.
In Seattle total water use has held steady since 1975, while the population has grown 30%, by using water conservation methods.
In Miami-Dade, leaky pipes alone cause a loss of ten million gallons per day.
Not one of the 51 ways to conserve water, that was prepared by a statewide task force in 2002, has been made into laws, with tough enforcement.
Miami Herald, Jan. 6, 2008, page 2L